The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-04-02
SERMON ON ENDLESS PUNISHMENT.
Rev. Mr.. Grandy's View of 1t.

lDOlulugi ny hSV. l.. ID. tyranny, on Gne
subject of ENDLESS Punishment, Its
Origin" Text, Matthew xv.9:
but in vain they do worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men,"
That the churches, either Protestant
or Catholic, have failed to accomplish
the work of thoroughly reforming the
world, must be admitted. And I am
constrained to say that until it is pre-
sented in more favorable light, and
placed upon principle instead Of policy,
it must ever fail. That the Bible is re-
plete with the doctrine of rewards and
punishments," we insist, but that they
are in another world and endless, we as
persistently deny. That there may be
punishment in another state of exist
ence we do not deny, but that it will be
endless in duration, we believe to be
contrary to Scripture and reason. Cru
ell, malignant and worse than useless, it
| seems to us Islander upon the divine
character, and stain upon infinite
goodness. 1t would be too much to at
tempt to show in single discourse,
that Christ did not teach it, hence l
will content myself with a presentation
of the evidence that if he did teach it
(which we by no means concede), it was
not revealed by him, and that at best
he only endorsed it. But Christ taught
that ''every man must be rewarded ac-
cording to his works."
God says, 'The wicked shall not be
unpublished, and that he will in no
wise clear the guilty, and that he that
doeth wrong shall receive for the,wrong
that he hath done; and God is no re-
specter of persons. But where is it
said that there is in eternity, and end
less +? Did God tell Adam in the gar
den, that if he partook of the forbidden
fruit, and did not repent, he would go
to an endless hell ? Not an intimation
of it do we find Did he tell Cain that
for the murder of his brother he would
go to such place if he did not repent !?
Did he tell him ne was in a state of
probation here, and that rewards and
punishments were reserved for the next
life That upon repentance any time
before death he could escape the conse-
quences Not word of it.n
But he did tell Adam and Eve SIN
the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die" And true to his promise,
the sting Of death came upon them.
Dead to peace, dead to virtue, dead to
holiness, dead to happiness. Cain
Jared no better. He, too, found he
could not escape the divine Judgment.
God arraigned him, tried him, judged
him, condemned him and punished
him. The culprit cries out in utter
despair, "My punishment is greater
than can bear" What an excellent
time for God to have told Cain of his
exposure to the dangers Of an endless
hell. But God failed to tell him word
about it. And you will trace the word
of God in vain, from Genesis to Mala-
Chi, to find one word or syllable which
hints of endless punishment.
In all the sins of the antediluvian
world, God did not hint such a danger,
nor attempt to bring them to repent
ance through the fear of going to such
a place. Strange, passing strange, if it
be true, that God did not mention it.
With these facts before US, 1 assert
that the doctrine is not revealed in the
Old Testament.
No one well versed in the teachings
of the Old Testament will assert that
the doctrine of endless punishment is
found there, or ever limited at. More
than that, it is admitted that even a
limited state of future punishment is
not taught in the Old Testament. The
doctrine of endless punishment was in
the world when Christ came, for at that
time the Jews, many of them believed
it, and Jesus warned the people to ''be-
ware Of the doctrine of the Scribes and
Pharisees." If the Old Testament does
not teach it, as this was all the revela-
ton the world had until the coming of
Christ, and if it was in the world when
Christ came, where did the world get
it ? No history of the Jews shows that
they believed the doctrine until after
their captivity among the Babylonians.
Upon their return they had the doc
trine, and from that time to Christ they
were in possession of it. Their wor-
ship became vain, for they taught not
Gods revelation, but "the command
ments of men," So that Christ found
them full of the doctrine, and ready to
commit any crime, even to the cruel
ixion of the Son of God.
Where did they get the doctrine ?
They obtained it from the heather.
We claim that Christ did not endorse
this heather doctrine, but warned his
disciples and the multitude against it.
Is it not time we cease to teach these
inventions of the heather rulers, and
build upon divine revelation ?